Growing Opposition to the McConnell Plan

Daniel Halper

July 13, 2011 5:47 PM

Louisiana senator David Vitter just released the following statement, expressing disapproval of Mitch McConnell's proposed debt ceiling plan:

“I strongly support the Cut, Cap, and Balance plan. We've been getting a very positive reaction to it, including from some leading House members who are trying to line up House passage to put it in Reid and Obama's lap.... Unfortunately, the McConnell proposal undercuts all of these efforts. It offers Reid and Obama everything they want – a $2.4 trillion increase in the debt limit with no spending cuts or reforms.”

Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell is preparing for the worst with a “contingency plan” if the situation remains deadlocked.

The Kentucky Republican has proposed a convoluted scheme whereby the debt ceiling would increase and the president would have to submit specific spending cuts. Congress would have the power to keep the debt ceiling from rising if it amassed a two-thirds majority that found those cuts inadequate. The goal is to keep the government from hitting the debt ceiling, defaulting on its bonds, or interrupting popular programs on which millions of people rely, while also holding the president accountable for his fiscal choices.

That’s a highly optimistic gloss on it, anyway. In reality, everyone would consider the Republicans partly responsible for an increase in the debt ceiling if they adopt this course; everyone would consider them to have lost their nerve for a fight; everyone would expect the spending cuts not to happen; and everyone would be right. Which is why it does not appear that House Republicans, or even all Senate Republicans, are going to follow this course.